Morning everyone
I'm getting a little frustrated with my lack of weight loss since sept...I feel like I'm bouncing. Up a little down a little. I'm still low carbing it,,,my bg thanks me.
I think I have to go back to measuring my food again....it's easy to let that slide.

Good going Carol!

p.a. I think you're right on about measuring your food. Low carb is good, but in spite of most low carb diets saying you can eat as much as you want, it doesn't turn out that way. You still have to be careful about the amount of food you eat.

Yesterday was a fluke. I ate a McDonalds sausage and egg McMuffin around 8, so it contained carbs which usually spike my BG. Since my BS was around 180 I took 1/2 a glimiperide when I ate. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I had no food available until 4 PM. I was hungry, but a bearable hunger. That was 8 hours between meals and my BG was 120 at dinner time. My dinner was a grilled chicken salad without the french fries. Before bed I ate some cereal...carbs and this morning my BG was over 200 again. I think if I did not have that cereal at bedtime I would have been fine. Not eating for 8 hours during the day brought my BG down. So why doesn't not eating overnight have the same effect. Does the Dawn Affect ONLY happen during sleep, but not when you're awake? If I could find the way to keep my BG from rising overnight I think I would have this licked, but starting out the day with a BG over 200 really puts a wrench in the works.

Back when I was in my 30s and thin, I ate very small dinnners and nothing before bed. I didn't have diabetes then, but it kept my weight in the 130 range and I slept like a rock. Was that because my stomach was empty or is my poor sleep due to aging now?

Diana,
Congrats on getting below 200 BG. You're doing something right.

p.a.,
I agree, something's not working. Could be measuring, could be exercise? Keep plugging away, you'll find it!


I had a family gathering yesterday. I had some ice cream (my biggest weakness). So of course this morning I'm up a pound and my BG is up, at 157. I've already told that pound that it is temporary and not to get too comfy!

Watercolor, it seems that you are responding to me, but my name is Carol, not Diana, so I'm not sure. We don't have a Diana posting on this thread.

Ice cream really spikes my BG but I only like chocolate, so when it's another flavor I can easily pass it up.

I have been reading about the Dawn Phenomenon and also the second meal effect. I don't understand how I can go 6-8 hours between breakfast and dinner and my blood glucose goes down, but overnight it goes up. It seems that there are hormonal changes during sleep that cause the rise in blood glucose. Your body thinks your BS is low so it releases more glucose. And I still don't understand the second meal effect. It's something about if you eat low carb at the first meal your blood glucose will not rise after the second meal, either. It also seems to have something to do with resistant starch, so I might go back to drinking the potato starch mixed in water before meals. I didn't notice any effect when I did it before, but maybe I didn't do it long enough.

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Yes, Carol, so sorry. I got my moderaters mixed up. LOL I was told in my case it probably wasn't Dawn phenomena because my meds don't lower my BG. I'm on metformin and Januvia. The other test, I was told, was to eat 0 carbs after 6 pm. if your BG is lower in the morning, then you don't have DP. I found that is true for me.

My weight was the same this morning. Another day of higher carbs yesterday. I'm getting back in gear today.

Even when I was only on Metformin my AM blood glucose was higher than it was the night before, but I have always been confused whether to eat a snack or not. Some people say a snack is the way to prevent the Dawn Phenomenon. A nurse at cadiac rehab told me not to eat a snack unless I'm hungry. I think that's because I'm overweight and shouldn't be eating when I'm not hungry.

I had a low carb breakfast, eggs, with sauteed mushrooms. I had a salad for lunch, and 2 spoonfuls of DH's mac and cheese. For dinner I am having pork and asparagus. I saw it's no carbs, but vegetables are carbs, but no starchy carbs.

Last night my husband was eating some apple slices and didn't want them all so I finished them, then I thought "That was carbs!" But I still ate my 1 egg before bed and this morning my FBS was lower, so I guess the carbs in the apple didn't hurt me much. I think my exercise yesterday had something to do with the lower BS, too. I will get this blood sugar down! And if some weight loss comes with it, it's all good. I don't consider myself to be on a diet, but I am cutting carbs because of the diabetes, not because of weight. And I am doing fairly well skipping the between-meal eating. I think that's helping two-fold, with BS and weight. Also, I find that I enjoy my meals so much better if I'm actually hungry when I eat. Imagine that! LOL

Water color I'm on the same meds you are....I was under the impression they do lower my bg? But I'm new to this and had to look up a lot of info at the beginning. I really think I do get the dawn phenomenon ...I was eating lower carbs at night with a bg of 5 or so but wake up in the morning and always a fasting level of 6.8 to 7. But,,,,the last 2 nights now an even lower carb snack , bg is 4.5 before bed and when I wake up it's been 5.5 . I'm so happy it's finally where I want it to be. Low carb is working for me!!

p.a.
I should have said they lower BG, but in an indirect way, by not letting the liver release as much sugar (glycogen) into the blood stream. I cannot take the sulfonarea meds like Glyberide. They make me super hungry all day long and I just have to keep eating. Not very helpful.

Carol
Apples are so full of fiber that it probably slipped through your body unnoticed. Apples - the stealth fruit. And of course you only ate a small part of one.
I've heard a couple of different things about snacking -
- if you're sugar is high, don't eat
- if you feel hungry, eat but not a lot
I just eat something 0 carb if I'm hungry but BG is high. BTW, I count all green veggies as 0 carb, even though technically they have a few. Like my nutritionist said "a head of lettuce didn't make you fat and diabetic". I was told to count milk, fruit and grains as carbs, and lay low on orange veggies. I was told to stay between 75-90 grams of carbs a day.

ME
Hanging in there with diabetic LC plan
B - string cheese, coffee with milk
L - Lemon chicken and potatoes, no veg
D - A whole lotta green beans roasted with EVOO, salt and pepper
S - Another string cheese, sugar free popsicles
I think I lost another half pound, my scale does whole pounds only, but it's flickering between 184 and 183.

I decided to read up about Januvia to see how it works. It lowers blood sugar by helping your pancreas release more insulin. It works only when you need it, instead of like my Glimiperide that lower blood sugar whether you need it or not. So according to that, Januvia will not cause a low. Metformin works by stopping your liver from releasing more glucose.

Watercolor, I know that the biggest problem I have is eating too much. I should eat smaller meals. I don't count the carbs in veggies either. I know some are higher carb, like carrots and corn. I still eat them, but try to keep the quantities lower. I agree with your nutritionist. I always say no one ever got fat/diabetic from eating broccoli. When I read Dr Fuhrman's The End of Diabetes he said that the nutrients in fruits and vegetables, even carrots, far outweighs any carbs you maybe getting from them.

Carol
I so agree with Dr. Fuhrman on that.
Besides, corn really helps with uh... my plumbing.

Cindy

LOL on the corn, Cindy. One time I asked my BIL if he wanted some corn and he said "I can't eat corn...it goes straight through me." I told him it goes straight through everybody!

Lol it sure does,,,,

I think I found my answer, 3 nights of having a very low carb snack at night, ( if I'm hungry) and 3 mornings of bg reading of 5.6. I've also noticed since I'm even lower carb now my readings during the day arnt spiking. my number after 2 hours is the same as before I ate. I'm very happy with my plan! Bonus my weight has dropped this week. Only 2 pounds away from my ticker.

Carol so those of us on Janumet (combo of junovia/metformin) , my pancreas is releasing insulin as needed and my liver is producing less glucose. Just trying to understand what's going on in my body. When my dh was diagnosed he went to a clinic and I went with him for support...the ladies there were great at explaining how diabetes affected your body and what it was,,,,I wish I would have paid more attention. They had it laid out on a big sheet like a cartoon.

When I was diagnosed, I was in the hospital having open heart surgery. In the recovery room they started injecting insulin and told me I was diabetic. When I went to the cardiac floor, I don't think the nurses realized I hadn't been diabetic before. No one told me anything. They gave me a meter and a little booklet and told me to check my BG and write it in the little book, but they didn't show me HOW to check it, or what to do about the numbers. When I left the hospital they told me my BG was down far enough that I didn't need insulin and gave me RXs for pills. They didn't send me to anyone to give me information. What I learned I learned from my PCP and from reading online and books I got from the library. I wish I could only eat low carb. It would help my BG so much, but I still eat some carbs because I cook for DH. I also need to get back into the habit of exercising more.

Holy cow Carol...that's awful.